Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    The History of Mr. Polly
    The History of Mr. Polly
    The History of Mr. Polly
    Ebook295 pages4 hours

    The History of Mr. Polly

    By H. G. Wells

    3.5/5

    ()

    Switch to audiobook
    Read preview

    About this ebook

    Alfred Polly lives in the imaginary town of Fishbourne in Kent, England. A miserable Mr. Polly. He hates Foxbourne, he hates Foxbourne High Street, he hates his shop and his wife and his neighbours – every blessed neighbour – and with indescribable bitterness he hates himself.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherFantastica
    Release dateMay 4, 2017
    ISBN9781787242340
    Author

    H. G. Wells

    H.G. Wells is considered by many to be the father of science fiction. He was the author of numerous classics such as The Invisible Man, The Time Machine, The Island of Dr. Moreau, The War of the Worlds, and many more. 

    Read more from H. G. Wells

    Related to The History of Mr. Polly

    Titles in the series (100)

    View More
    View More

    Related ebooks

    Classics For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Towns Like Ours

      May 3, 2018

      Towns Like Ours
      9 min read

    • Article

      Fredericksburg’s Wounded Warriors

      Jul 11, 2023

      Fredericksburg’s Wounded Warriors
      6 min read

    • Article

      Don’t Stop All The Clocks – My Dad’s Died

      Sep 22, 2021

      Doubts persist as to whether my father’s last words will join those of Oscar Wilde (that wallpaper) and Bognor-buggerer George V among the most memorable yet uttered. For one thing, my dad’s last words weren’t uttered. For another, they were not, in

      3 min read

    • Article

      Human Contact

      Aug 10, 2022

      Beer tasted like wet money—or maybe just bad beer did. Viola had never tried any other kind. She preferred white wine, but there was no white wine at this party. “Drink it like medicine,” the guy manning the keg said. “It’ll loosen you up.” He wore a

      18 min read

    • Article

      Excerpts From The Works Of The 2024 Whiting Award Winners

      Apr 10, 2024

      The 2024 Whiting Award winners were announced Wednesday night. Below are excerpts from their work.

      19 min read

    • Article

      “I Indulged In Forgiveness”

      Oct 9, 2019

      “I Indulged In Forgiveness”
      7 min read

    • Article

      Table Talk

      Jun 1, 2023

      Table Talk
      11 min read

    • Article

      The Man Behind the Counter

      Mar 4, 2019

      The Man Behind the Counter
      8 min read

    • Article

      “I Indulged In Forgiveness”

      Oct 6, 2019

      “I Indulged In Forgiveness”
      7 min read

    • Article

      La Otra Historia

      Jun 30, 2022

      La Otra Historia
      14 min read

    • Article

      Rebel With A Fork

      Apr 23, 2023

      Rebel With A Fork
      8 min read

    • Article

      Last Orders

      Jul 28, 2021

      Last Orders
      5 min read

    • Article

      River Monster

      Aug 11, 2019

      River Monster
      14 min read

    • Article

      Unreality Television

      May 27, 2020

      Unreality Television
      4 min read

    • Article

      Naked Truths

      Nov 22, 2020

      Of course we had a row. You can’t, or I can’t, interview Paul Henry and not have a row. Somebody once took a picture of us glaring at each other in an Auckland bar, silently but furiously having a row, and put it on social media. It was a picture of

      8 min read

    • Article

      Four Poems

      May 1, 2019

      We found ourselves to be quite fondof the ad campaignundermining late-stage capitalism: how the sprightly old womankept bursting into private conversationsat the candlelit restaurant and shouting, You can’t eat nickels!!and then doing that little hip

      3 min read

    • Article

      Mrs Simpson Learns A Lesson

      Jul 29, 2021

      Mrs Simpson Learns A Lesson
      4 min read

    • Article

      Odd Jobs

      Jul 19, 2017

      Odd Jobs
      3 min read

    • Article

      Notes on Etiquette

      Mar 1, 2019

      Notes on Etiquette
      10 min read

    • Article

      Four Of A Kind

      May 3, 2023

      Four Of A Kind
      4 min read

    • Article

      Peter Russell-clarke Forever A Pot Stirrer!

      Jul 31, 2022

      As a teenage street kid, runaway Peter Russell-Clarke survived by scrounging for food scraps outside the ritziest Melbourne restaurants. The way he tells it, that's where the larrikin TV chef, author and artist first discovered his love for fine food

      4 min read

    • Article

      Memories Of A Miracle

      Dec 1, 2023

      Memories Of A Miracle
      8 min read

    • Article

      Eating My Words

      Nov 15, 2021

      Eating My Words
      9 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for The History of Mr. Polly

    3.5/5

    109 ratings9 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 3/5
      Mr Polly uses wonderful malapropisms and created words to describe things - a fun story.
    • 3/5
      I can see that this would have been very witty when it was published, but I just could not get into it, despite being at the same time of life as Mr Polly.
    • 4/5
      I read this not long after reading Orwell's Coming Up For Air. This one is a much better novel, but they're interesting as two books about very similar characters in very similar circumstances; in the wrong class in Britain at the wrong time, badly educated, badly married, dreams lost, no real prospects or hopes or pleasure left in life when the books begin. Wells is much more subtle about the blind ignorant ways in which people can make themselves miserable themselves in life, and get what they put out.

      Also, in this one, the author has sympathy for his protagonist, warts and all, and he shows the internal forces shaping his life just as strongly as the external. Nobody in it is a simple caricature. And it is funny. I don't think I ever laughed out loud, but I was smiling a lot, and wincing too. The story is slower at first, and then starts leaping along in all kinds of startling and funny ways. The fire chapter is well worth the price of admission all by itself.
    • 4/5
      Lively satire by Wells, displaying his deep and detailed first hand knowledge of the Edwardian lower middle class.
    • 2/5
      This novel was not really to my liking. I didn't really *get* at what H.G Wells was trying to accomplish here and I felt that the result fell flat quite often. It wasn't the worst thing to read, but definitely not recommended.2 stars.
    • 5/5
      The esteemed M.J. Nicholls dryly encircled the genius of this novel. It was fitting to conclude my week-long tour of Britons electing paired initials as Christian names - to rest easy under the warm praise of the Scotsman with his love of completeism and exhumation.

      Alfred Polly is my hero. His neologisms are remarkable. I thought of citing a half dozen examples but feel that out of context, it would prove to be shit. His suspicions and pleasures appear to be my own. One can't just sit around forever. Such is my paraphrase of the novel's amazing conclusion.
    • 5/5
      “Hole! said Mr Polly, and then for a change and with greater emphasis “Ole!” He paused, and then broke out with some of his private and peculiar idioms. “Oh! Beastly Silly Wheeze of a Hole!”. Our first encounter with Mr Polly who is nearly at the end of his tether. He is an unhappy shopkeeper facing bankruptcy and has taken himself off after lunch to launch a tirade on the miserable world around him, suffering as he does every afternoon with indigestion. He hates his wife, he hates his neighbours and above all he hates his shop. Published in 1910 The History of Mr Polly became one of H G Wells best loved novels. Graham Greene was in the habit of labelling his books either as novels or entertainments, if H G Well had done something similar Mr Polly would have been an entertainment. After the darkness of Ann Veronica (his previous novel) Wells again has written another book of social commentary, but this one hides any seriousness in the glorious comic figure of Mr Polly. After our initial meeting with our hero, Wells then embarks on the History. Mr Polly’s education was a mess, he was not particularly intelligent and failed to grasp much of what he was taught, he liked to read and lost himself in adventure stories. He got an apprenticeship as a drapers assistant and his life in the shop would have been unending drudgery, but for his meeting up with two likeminded youths with an interest in books and all things literary. Mr Polly hides his lack of education by a sort of deliberate mispronunciation of words, which can be funny, but often serves to puzzle those around him. Wells has much fun with Mr Polly’s own peculiar language for example: thrusting competitors for jobs became the “Shoveacious Cult”. Mr Polly is the opposite to being a thrusting competitor, he has difficulty in rousing himself to do much that he doesn’t like and he soon loses his job when his apprenticeship is finished. “You have merely anti-separated me by a hair” Mr Polly said politely when he was being fired.Unemployed and at a loose end he is saved temporarily from the rat race by the death of his father who has left him a little money. At the funeral he meets his three female cousins the Larkin girls.”Hen-witted Gigglers” and it soon becomes obvious that he will marry one of them, however he needs to do something with his fathers money to secure his livelihood and so he does what so many lower middle class people aspired to do in Edwardian times: He buys a little shop. He holds out from doing this as long as he can because he has an inkling it will be a prison sentence and that is just what it turns out to be. He has no aptitude for selling, he has no enthusiasm for his shop, and he soon falls out with his neighbours and is at war with the wife he has never loved. The reader has now caught up with Mr Polly on that fateful day after lunch when he puts the finishing touched to his plan to burn down his shop, cut his throat with a razor and incinerate himself. Mr Polly’s plan usually go astray and while he is successful in burning down his shop and many of his neighbours shops, he forgets to cut his throat. While it is clear that Mr Polly has not the character to be a successful business man, it is also clear that being a small shop owner at the turn of the century was the undoing of many people. The big commercial concerns were beginning to cut the ground away from the owner occupiers and all of Mr Polly’s neighbouring shop owners were facing ruin. Wells can't help himself in pointing his finger at disorganised capitalism and an unplanned economy, but limits himself to a rant of only a couple of pages. There are some marvellously funny set pieces in this book. Mr Polly’s fathers funeral where he becomes an instant hit with the Larkin girls, his meetings with Christabel the girl on top of the wall that surrounds her school with whom Mr Polly falls desperately in love, his own more than successful arson attack and finally the showdown with the diabolic Uncle Jim. All the while Mr Polly dreams of something better and embarks whenever he can on his ‘Exploratious menanderings “ In many ways this is one of H G Wells’ most thought through novels. He had previously demonstrated his ability to make his readers laugh in Kipps and The Invisible Man, but here he has created a comic figure with which many people can identify. Mr Polly does not set out to be funny but he undeniably is and when at the end of the novel he has fought his battles and come out; if not winning at least more content then we applaud. Wells’ message might be that you can change your world. A wonderful entertainment and a five star read.
    • 3/5
      Slacker tale of the turn of the last century, a welcome corrective from an era usually depicted as earnest. Mr Polly enjoys 'talking bosh and laughing', and is an uncontrollable phrasemonger, like Reggie Perrin or Schweik. He has an imaginative streak, an amusing way with words, and a twinkle for the ladies: "Lill dog" he says, as a kind of verbal joker, whenever the going gets too hot. The book conveys some kind of ethical injunction, as one would expect from Wells, but the significance is a bit lost these days, in what comes down to us as more of an enjoyable rompThe picaresque supporting cast  are straight caricatures, but make for a lively and comical read, as in say the Pickwick Papers. Mr Polly's spirits do get ground down by the bleakness of a clerk's prospects, but he is eventually restored to Pooter-ish optimism, his new lease of life leaving him feeling "as the grass and daisies must do when you move the garden roller away to a new place." 
    • 4/5
      Quite different from Wells' science fiction classics. I found that I often saw the humor rather than felt it; certain aspects of Mr. Polly's character were clearly intended to be funny (such as his mistakes with words) but didn't really tickle my funny bone. The last 2 chapters were the best for me.For the LibriVox recording I listened to I would award 3* - Adrian Praetzellis did a fine job but unfortunately, his voice and pacing weren't for me. I found it hard to focus on (especially in the car) and often ended up having to reread portions in the Kindle edition to find out what happened.

    Book preview

    The History of Mr. Polly - H. G. Wells

    2^book_preview_excerpt.html}\ےƑ͎hmٱ *H5QP+k @u Bl?q?/}ɞ`Z"M7BUV^N/?2Mc/\\Mŗ/h>_w/>4xKŻ6Y<׮\Bp>9x{W⇻ʇww?wŷ߽O^}>~zF/]w/ou_\?{Sܾ{׷Ko7\a _:mHR<\>Wup8|\҄ ca+WqL^Mm[TǓۇR?}?~|?ū7~/>)k_p +7|xs{k׿Û__p_~7o o}O_K /o}y1Z6ob?w?( ju15Uׯaj }4wCRH)0]/7ͨPa1WsX:.]q%ȗ?.ϻb]-/?T0M?E Zc*9bNXD]mG޹N91vX{>Ѿ6ӻ!7}<w#'KG {H\0iUGVq0~E7*8~CbMyyJ\O2Y}jpd+ *2 $(kG Ӝo"pTt%q-;.jBJЀ0P#v|yZ@ۀh#߻7z8M fR n\TL"~sro>*Yu3i"aBg u%g8_u'IBǻ. ^Zo*n s]Tlѯ/WY %X SqU3VX==iȁoyO/[#|θ# `9)1h itrwHA-6FB[<`HPQ1B/7 @?\ @Ů6v!&ut3Ҹy@Y9hEt'_i8.ɪmbTgC $F`B6yHE1pV'>Ժ | ~oW 2OGkq .ɻf́Qžwg8ztDg> sVwi-'0)-k≣ˆʢZ n]{?>`9Dwqx@5N-Q1~PuN;Ácʖ [blq 0Y7 ?;oR,~,- \{qą3bJGuVP{:z.5k[GOS[^pl @!ڧY8 }/&A!GFK@Gڜ^9=FKVf@yu4cU YxorGLPLJ2-WNV4H>'@(y?VɛbLVr2Y x:%"Z&H{<*6iJ[.֠#Iž+[Qe:ȗ}st+VXGj P گQ|Ǿz(n*-l_ɰԑX+`n,cߺL‹ &YBjh'fBrq[HBmwu؝xBy/Sg%[WE8.M,dZH8rewi:|Zڐ^*^b:0br QM?@HA+tɐu".'|O^TaU3N,B &V7`دtP/FrqkP<+FLوbO,.? G٭ybx,\x%'2Q[$iGA=TUoε@ ] L#(^%h$" IEf,HDԪ+n֚ Z*Li&?a0EC4揤CQd"'CH j$ "] A!bMïF+HxVM0T 9Α(P8B(cWs%:zـ Pdsc0b0;PEiZOLMؽ^Eeݔsgfǘc>[3v'?L̍r),#/R0)HaZoh1+/*pGa \Ա|thSsƱM~/DTEBp+Lƅ T8aҵƈEWNGi&{C) ;~2TPMN%C8q`5iEv}_.Kp!䊬>0FJ kkg+`Y2Vh|W~9n3iqss5'Ktfuj{II9HcÒ !; "ݘ#QfPP?mR\]HUz/0ĵB" jCg(^&[+YF#<Ǩq܃p4& nUk %a ,H;)$%0WջLj'E^!jA3$*,DJ1Z suae,B<4 Ğ SaϜZ 3bN:UzHyb Z2Up)A[ZOrt%Pq- . `+׊$俄;GРh g҄[i`*=q17E\g 5e-2Z0R% 5YZ8Di7Kf_%J*/ǤSoI*ㆣk]T )ׄ \jB61?! j̥+S_A~@2Ɖs͉ؒ*qtDdQٷE{g/QU6!Y-i䒹oBNHgxSLbNĨ8ƜaVT?)(EIv_ϕ[ឪ |OrrmÎ@ȟU|DY gUHj>È*5-i+7p|vIFVtKZI@,7ŠY QIl'Q V5\dpjϰ۲:nb,legw-={bۉLbUCF֋bO\Ik5/Vɫֵl2Oq)aCliחtiV%̔t}N~ 2E ?P J\N_Yxsd2JV. o̚qf0m'&',kI/d hٽqʄUJ) $G I 3&%0{-I B ;X&'D8 y^%խF$9EH>\|ڲ}_K#V^uR .]mS!\YLPϴk+_Q?M󈆠c,Q,g<2E2ur%8AT;]Xg3R, fMVUO8Yf^t!7 R㗝^J*\* i "%4V`Y߮Zl]A0$^$qv5x2pDܵgeMT5]x~I>jʱXlrf7CI),)eW%>/F B{W8< + !HVcpNrQ5X 'aTQ/tC sK}FA}s,)Ph/&3h5'ʎ ӁnW$:c2Yh\Oߴ.2qB܅nNi\qhʩ2涟`'O! kԩ1&;zF1S{ydlңbB@g:5H8w5ϝ ,/B soh2/YC#/՗Ϻ,TOqU`O^]WluB%^O3h Y`00m8UU24ّq:ыU8gHÚ>csǠ7[:#S{@40wڟ"ED%ѠU/φR%\b}$)'^V 857,x2iS֦Fsc&%pG,'eyX3Ǣ[FztM`$[#~ӈ3k @\n}>:ZW,MZ&*wu2D-s$0+9&3TÍײ蠔-05Jk A6RH8G;h3벯ZB Fjq Hwۊqnqh sF'94& >JDxhET"d޻5qkeM{)-<0<*`qsS+ 6::%;^Ve`ԪW:I0#ζ n<IԬ9al.HLrlȊQ~ʂ1KricF-T3x.Y8` XCXac3:=444)IL!sEm&ne8-`0={],=eO~/@*iҞ`^$9+t(+7m뀉%A gIHplW6Msmk̲ŀ0cFfxoO}h $ ]CtAZ*: 0E Q6sAcR횺,/Bfzkځ'e,upOC!3/LEힹIr{ӗ҈;~i)o~Z.nT^"`yύbڤDP'v#t +D &h J>EXelY~9O9֎>ȬҟLm?#] ዹeiC+^GB|XaQ!:=c–Ғ#]69`3Kt- ;-F-V3,?-G)JWFQ9^)*ˊ)vB͊rwwlkA8a6)Rhз1itS9a(Lcd%+@m;lB—)nJK)PzmG;a$T+ݞΌXz1 %PIrZbvw]nj;+?6'~osҦ.1fL9 Rl}(@s.'Ls_k+SZMbYD%zƁeI`_CW/Q<=]`N`]:p- 뱔Sn}nuhd$ ]Y7Gۅu~=%mDzs\G44na XӮ.EAhD wtK@$  <9z W /t!g(~w{DK=E %< ߻ KiKPs'sڃ\G_i' 5F=s0o0%t&@VlbgG$.)gulDVrC7i9KV7LvImJR BPg+0ST[_clodsL&6WJc31+`CtLTR&J[vs( -A:hAmD8XIy,-B{w"Ӭr)6Owcs,Zl /VC( âtd I5!ǣg%'roSKj}ҏ_m$ ɋWZ'V|ֽhtt(VjVhMR! r8 FYicH?7n1IW㱵,bIde6O:lY>orekWuG%tFr:y`{nwck\,ð˲~M1| SV9C8MOEw2N"r o5K)0?6
    Enjoying the preview?
    Page 1 of 1